This double take courtesy of reader Terry from Nevada.

I think a number of us are familiar with this (frequently challenged) book:

There aren’t any similar covers, as far as I know. But, check out the (much tamer) paper back cover:

I dig this cover. I can’t get a date on it, but the original hardcover book was published in May 2004 by Henry Holt and Company. The coloring and style is more approachable than the original, I think. Alas. It sure looks familiar!

Steven Herrick’s Love, Ghosts, & Facial Hair was published in February 2004 by Simon Pulse.

I think both covers fit the books, so it’s impossible to say who did it better. I can say, though, I like this cover much better than the original one for Doing It. What about you?

Here’s a double take that is of the same exact stock photo but with different color effects.

The Girl with the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron will be published by HarperTeen in early January 2010. This is the image from the ARC, so there’s a chance it may not be the final cover choice.

The Mark by Jen Nadol will actually be released in late January 2010 — a couple weeks after Girl with the Mermaid Hair. It’s being published by Bloomsbury USA. Again, this is from the advanced copy, so it’s not necessarily the final cover.

So which do you like better?

Personally, I dig the second one better. It’s more haunting and memorable. The top looks a little too washed out for my taste, though I think that the image and cover are more fitting for the title than the one for The Mark. It’ll be interesting to see if these are final covers in January, too.

I subtitled this post “Double Takes in Unexpected Places.”

This is Sarah Quiqley’s new book TMI. It was published April 16, 2009 by Dutton. Memorable cover, I think!

Imagine my surprise when I was at work and stumbled across this ad in one of the professional journals (sorry for the less than spectacular scanning job):

It’s the same girl! They’ve just changed her hair color. Same exact hair style, same expression, and same colored eyes.

I prefer Quigley’s cover, actually. I think the blonde hair looks too fake. The brown looks more realistic. But how fun to run across this one!

There have to be a billion covers like this, particularly recently. Here are three that stand out to me without even having to try looking hard:

Sovay by Celia Rees was published October 2008 by Bloomsbury USA. She’s getting ready to cover her mouth with her collar (a turtleneck shirt collar or a scarf – it’s not entirely clear to me).

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph was published May 2009 by MTV publishers. Clearly, she’s covering her mouth with her shirt collar in this one. And perhaps this is the same model from another angle — you know how if you go into stock images, many offer similar images, this seems like one of those “similar images”:

At Face Value by Emily Franklin was published in October 2008 by Flux.

Know of any others? I like the last cover best, probably, but all of them follow the theme. At least these are a little more memorable on their own.

Here’s another double take! No comments on either one, since the similarities should be fairly obvious.

Published first:

Deb Caletti’s The Secret Life of Prince Charming was published April 7, 2009 by Simon Pulse.

And a mere three weeks later?

HarperTeen published Hailey Abbott’s Flirting with Boys on April 28, 2009.

Same couple, same pants, same posture. The only difference is the yellow topper that is the style of all of Caletti’s books. I’m not a huge fan of either cover, but I also have an issue with the butt shot (and have you noticed the billions of books that have this style?).